As Egyptian record-keeping progressed, the scribes who performed the writing of hieroglyphics were faced with the challenge of finding a more efficient means of written communication. Demotic script provided scribes with a solution but created a new dilemma for later archaeologists. As Demotic script became the norm, the system used for deciphering hieroglyphics fell into disuse and the means of translating hieroglyphics seemed lost. Found by French soldiers in the small village of Rosetta in 1799, the Rosetta Stone offered a solution. The stone shows the same text written in hieroglyphics, Demotic script and Greek and offered the means necessary to translate the mystery of hieroglyphics. Using plaster of Paris and a hieroglyphics reference, help children create their own Rosetta Stones by carving a sentence or phrase in both English and hieroglyphics. For younger children, carving may be limited to their name.
Developing a picture-based language offers older students the ability to comprehend the complexity of hieroglyphics and their importance in ancient Egyptian culture. Present students with a scenario in which they must communicate with someone afar without the use of a written language. Explain how pictures may be used to convey meanings, prompting students to consider familiar objects in the environment and related to the human body that may be used to create a picture-based language. The teacher or students record the images on the blackboard and assign sounds to each to create an alphabet. After the alphabet is complete, have students, individually or as group, write a simple sentence using the new alphabet and challenge the others in the class to translate.
Ancient Egyptian scribes painstakingly reproduced the hieroglyphic alphabet for record-keeping and sacred carving. Have students become modern day scribes by providing them with photocopies of the ancient Egyptian alphabet and writing materials and instructing them to translate simple sentences into hieroglyphics. Encourage students to take their time to carefully reproduce the ancient language. For older students, entire phrases or paragraphs may be reproduced to later be translated by their classmates.
Egyptian scribes used papyrus scrolls made from the papyrus plant for composing important spiritual texts such as the Book of the Dead. Students recreate the practice of scroll writing by creating their own homemade paper scrolls using scrap paper. Have students make the paper by soaking scrap pieces of paper in a tub of warm water. Help them combine the paper with warm water in an electric blender to create the paper pulp. Place a disposable aluminum pan with a wire screen fitted across a hole in the bottom in the mixture. As the pulp settles on the screen, move the frame back and forth to ensure even distribution. Lift the frames from the mixture and allow to drain before pressing on the pulp to further remove excess moisture. Place pulp on a piece of cloth and press it flat using a rolling pin. After the paper is dry, have students write their names on the scrolls in hieroglyphics.